Frankenfoods all about money

We should have known that soon after we said “Hello, Dolly,” someone would wonder how the cloned sheep would taste medium rare with mint sauce. Coming to a supermarket near you: cloned livestock.

Just when you thought we were heading toward organic consumption, just when Alice Waters convinced us to think global and buy local, the federal government is set to flood the marketplace with more Frankenfoods.

By year’s end, the federal government is expected to approve the sale of cloned livestock and byproducts for consumption. This isn’t good news.

Three years ago, the Food and Drug Administration gave its tepid endorsement of cloned foods. But the FDA advisory panel that did so was divided in its opinion. Some on the panel in 2003 raised questions about food safety, ethics and (cloned) animal welfare.

These questions have not gone away, despite more research in the United States and Japan.

Manufacturers (breeders?) of cloned livestock hope to make a lot of money by literally replicating their cash cows. Talk about unnatural selection!

Consumers should be wary.

Given what we know about the virtually unregulated genetically engineered crop industry, including problems with cross-contamination and possible hazards to ecosystems and wildlife, can we be confident that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will better regulate cloned livestock? Knowing how easily science can be manipulated, can the FDA be trusted?

This weird science is motivated by profit, not a need to better feed the world. There is no livestock shortage to speak of that necessitates our sending in the clones as backup. This begs an ethical question: Just because we can, should we? Cloned cattle would not be more resistant than bred cattle to mad cow disease, so what’s the point?

Ultimately, the marketplace will decide. The trend thus far has consumers embracing less human meddling, not more. Consumers are shying away from livestock pumped up on hormones, some of which have been linked to cancer.

They are leaning toward eggs from hens that have breathing room. They are frequenting small businesses like Local Burger in Lawrence, Kan., that not only serves organic buffalo but posts names and locations of local farms from which they purchase their organic goods.

Large grocers have taken note and copied chains like Whole Foods. That’s why now next to meats marked “lean,” you are likely to find signs for “organic” and “natural” Angus.

Would cloned food, including milk and cheese from cloned goats and cows, be so clearly labeled? It should. If it is as safe as they say it is, labeling would help consumers make an informed choice.

The Center for Food Safety in Washington has qualms about cloned livestock and has raised awareness about lax oversight of genetically engineered foods. It assailed the USDA as “an agency out of control.”

Citing the release of unapproved genetically engineered rice in the food supply, the organization in August called for a moratorium on new permits for open-air field testing of such crops.

Some livestock breeders want to replicate their prize-winning bull. They want a herd of high-producing Holsteins, not one dairy queen. But would cloned animals receive the same welfare considerations as bred animals?

Despite the FDA’s consideration of studies performed in the United States and Japan, there is still much we do not know. Before this food goes to market, more research must be done beyond the few studies the FDA used to issue its presumption of safety. Findings should be made public.

There’s something about this that isn’t kosher.